


Unfamiliarity

by thatonegreenpencil



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Emotional Constipation, Family Feels, Gen, Hints of Kagehina, Humor, Kageyama Tobio-centric, spoilers for ch 387
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:54:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23286616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatonegreenpencil/pseuds/thatonegreenpencil
Summary: In which Hinata comes to the realization that he doesn't know much about Kageyama at all.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou & Kageyama Tobio, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Comments: 19
Kudos: 285





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Literally.... I haven't even touched the Haikyuu fandom in five years, haven't even been keeping up with the manga or the anime, yet the newest chapter completely obliterates all that and makes me try at 3 am and compels me to type this in the span of three hours. Now that's what you call good writing (as in Furudate's writing, not me, this is actual complete self-indulgent trash because I love my boy)
> 
> literally I saw a post on twitter that was like, 'in eight years... we really don't know much about kageyama at all' and my brain sCREECHED and this thing was born. Hope you enjoy

Hinata first realizes he doesn’t know as much about Kageyama as he thought when he gets a chance to look through the guy’s messages.

They’re supposed to be studying for final exams. But, in Hinata’s defense, they’d been going at it for an unbroken thirty minutes and if he goes any longer his brain will explode, a hundred percent guaranteed. So, during this brief moment of rest that he allows himself to have, his fingers naturally reach for the only thing on their combined desks that’s not scattered papers, pens, or textbook pages—Kageyama’s phone.

The owner of said phone looks up. “Oi, dumbass, stop getting distracted.”

“I’m just waiting for you to catch up,” Hinata retorts, a little smugly. “If you give me, like, five minutes, I’ll help you out.”

Kageyama’s eyebrows scrunch together, apparently having realized that, while he’s been stuck on question one, Hinata is an  _ entire question ahead.  _ Unprecedented. “I’ll figure it out myself,” the setter grumbles, bowing his head back over the practice exam without a second glance or protest at his phone being in Hinata’s hand. Hinata, of course, is going to take that as permission for free reign.

There’s not a lot on Kageyama’s phone, which is saying a lot seeing as Hinata also has a flip phone and there’s not a lot on his phone either. But whereas his phone is making use of the bare amount of customization a flip phone is capable of (wallpaper of Natsu’s face, custom font, custom signature, the works), Kageyama’s seems like it’s a day out of the factory. Not even a custom wallpaper. 

So, obviously, he quickly gets bored of staring at the default home screen and its programmed-in background, and because he doesn’t have any interest in checking Kageyama’s internet history (not that anyone actually uses the internet function of a flip phone, anyway), he clicks on ‘messages’ as his first target of investigation. 

There’s not a lot there, either. You barely have to scroll down for a second before you hit the end of the message history, with the oldest message dating three years back, excitedly announcing his new phone plan. The rest of the names he recognizes, even the older ones, with notable appearances from Kitagawa Daiichi’s volleyball coach, Oikawa (who actually texted Kageyama fairly recently with a foreboding  _ lol— _ foreboding, mostly because of Karasuno’s defeat at the Interhigh that still burns fresh and bright in Hinata’s mind—but, Hinata has enough respect towards both Kageyama and Oikawa not to snoop further), and his own name at the very top with a text an hour ago asking (demanding) Kageyama to study together for finals. 

But, there’s one name that’s completely unfamiliar to him. 

_ Kageyama Miwa. _ The characters for  _ Kageyama  _ are instantly recognizable, but it takes him a minute to read  _ Miwa. _ The last message from this person is from a week ago, which reads:  _ ‘Don’t forget to turn off the stove. Take care of yourself, the tournament pushed you hard.’ _

“Oi, Kageyama.” Hinata holds the phone in Kageyama’s bent-down face, tapping his fingers on  _ Miwa. _ “Who’s this?”

“Huh?” Kageyama looks up with an annoyed frown, but it softens a little as he glances over. “Oh, that’s my older sister.”

_ “What?!” _ Hinata doubles back, his reality of Kageyama shattered before his eyes. The pieces of that fractured reality rearrange themselves from  _ grumbly independent only child _ to  _ grumbly clingy little brother.  _ Which still doesn’t fit the man he perceives to be Kageyama. Hinata needs a second. “Wait wait wait, you had an  _ older sister _ this entire time? But—but you never talk about her!”

“Am I supposed to?” He sounds genuinely puzzled.

“I mean—kind of, yeah!” Hinata knows for a fact that a lot of his life that doesn’t center around volleyball is centered around his family, and more specifically, his adorable little sister Natsu. Who, yes, is sometimes a pain, but that’s all part of the sibling experience and doesn’t lessen the fondness in his tone when he mentions her in casual conversation—which Hinata does, a  _ lot. _ Too often has he been teased by his peers in middle school for being a doting older brother. For any of them to believe he was an only child? Unthinkable.

He tries to convey these thoughts to Kageyama in a paragraph-long ramble about how much he loves Natsu that, looking back, had nothing to do with Kageyama’s sister (that’s still a weird concept to wrap his head around) whatsoever. Yet, Kageyama seems to understand, because when Hinata finally stops talking, he shrugs and says, “She’s eight years older than me. She has her own life.”

Hinata ponders over his sentence. Kageyama, who’s lost interest in contributing more to the conversation, goes back to his math problem. That in itself speaks volumes, Hinata thinks solemnly. It’s a phrase that, while it sounds deep and poetic in his head, he’s not able to parse out the meaning of, because he’s not quite sure  _ what _ it’s supposed to say about Kageyama.

It must be a younger sibling thing. Although, Hinata’s confident that if Natsu grew up to be so flippant about her older brother, he might cry. Or maybe it’s just a Kageyama thing. That, he wouldn’t be surprised at. In a lot of ways, Kageyama is peculiar, and there’s no reason it shouldn’t be the same when it comes to his own family. Maybe he’d be more animated about them if they had volleyballs instead of heads. With the way Kageyama fixated on volleyball and everything related to it, it honestly would not have surprised Hinata if his family were, in fact, all giant volleyballs who had adopted a human child who grew up thinking he was a volleyball. Like the thing with the kid that was raised by wolves.

Hinata might have probed deeper into the topic of Kageyama’s family and perhaps come upon some more disturbing questions in the process, but at that moment, Kageyama says, “Ha. I solved it. Now hurry up and focus.” 

It’s the hint of smugness in his voice that ignites Hinata’s inner flame (the way Kageyama’s voice always does, whether it be in a spirit of competition or a spirit of wanting to support his friends, off or on the court). As Hinata scrambles to find his pencil, the topic of Kageyama’s family, and his sister, vanishes from his mind entirely.

* * *

The second time is when he visits Kageyama’s house for the first time. 

In general, they don’t tend to visit each others’ houses much—most of the time they hang out in the confines of the great outdoors. Both Kageyama and Hinata are too restless to stay inside for long, much less willingly. And not only are houses restricting, but they’re not even made for exercise like the way their high school gym is. So, both of them have silently agreed that houses are kind of lame.

This changes when, before practice one day, Kageyama announces, frustration bubbling beneath the surface of his tone, that he has left his sneakers in the dryer at home. 

“I can still play,” he insists to Daichi who, at this moment, has his ‘stern captain’ face on, which indicates that there’s no way Kageyama’s winning this one.

“Kageyama, your house is only a little bit from the school, right?” Hinata pipes up. “If you run, you’ll make it there and back in twenty, probably.” Although that is twenty minutes of valuable practice time that they’d be losing, it’s better than not practicing at all. Kageyama seems to think the same, his eyes lighting up at Hinata’s suggestion.

Daichi’s a bit more hesitant. “But…I don’t know how comfortable I am with the thought of you sprinting to your house alone in shoes that are not sneakers.”

“I’ll go with him to make sure he doesn’t fall!” he says. 

“Well…” Daichi starts again, then looks at the burning gazes of the two first-years, and sighs. “Alright, but don’t be reckless. Remember, an injury is going to cost you more than just one practice.”

The two of them furiously nod their heads before turning heel and running out the door.

“Make sure you keep up with me, got it?” Kageyama says between puffs of oxygen. Which, Hinata knows, is his way of saying thanks. Laughter comes out of Hinata in huffs and puffs, all the way to Kageyama’s house.

It’s really nothing remarkable, the house. It’s like any other house you would find in the neighborhood, posted on the back of neighborhood newspapers and whatnot. But there is something… _ unremarkable _ about it. Hinata doesn’t know why he’s taking such a critical eye towards it—it’s not like the house is there to impress him—but he was expecting something…something else. The chance for an inside sneak peek into the Kageyama household—well, maybe Hinata did hold certain expectations.

That’s why the house is so strange to him, Hinata realizes. There’s not much of a household here. Even once inside, there’s little decor to speak of. A delicate vase of flowers and a pair of sandals—both far from Kageyama’s tastes—are the only hints of personality in an otherwise barren place.

The most striking thing is the sound. There’s the bang of the door as Kageyama rushes in and the heavy thumps of footsteps that chase after him, but other than that—the house is silent. Serene. The thin beams of light from the doorframe touch at the edges of the hallway before him, dimly illuminating bare walls and bare floors. It seems to beckon him inside. Knowing that Kageyama will appear in five minutes, tops, yelling at him to hurry back to school—Hinata ventures in.

In the living room, there’s more signs of life, but everything is so ordered and pristine that Hinata would’ve easily missed it. There’s last week’s math homework, ordered into a neat pile on the dining table by someone who’s definitely not Kageyama. Volleyball and fashion magazines lay beside it in equally neat piles. A clock in the shape of the cat overlooks the rest of the space and the furniture that occupies it: a kotatsu, a TV, and a coffee table pushed to the side. 

Not merely a coffee table, Hinata realizes. The table is lined with a white linen tablecloth, well-worn, judging by the fraying of its edges. Perched on said table is a candle and a stick of incense, both charred at the edges, flames having lone gone out. Two pictures rest beside it. The bigger of the two is a portrait of an unfamiliar man, face wrinkled with age. The smaller picture contains three figures. One is unmistakably Kageyama; younger than Hinata’s ever seen him but his intense grip on the volleyball and equally intense gaze are a dead giveaway. He also has a tight grip on the corner of a jersey, inscribed with  _ Little Falcons _ and a blocky  _ 12. _ The whole of the jersey is held up by the man from the portrait, whose grin seems to overtake half his face as well as the entire picture. Next to him is another unfamiliar person, but with her almond-shaped eyes and jet-black hair, it’s easy to deduce that she’s Kageyama’s mystery sister, Kageyama Miwa. At first glance, her pout gives her the impression that she’s annoyed, but there’s a small quirk to the ends of her lips that gives her away.

They look happy. Whole. And this—this is Kageyama’s family. 

Immediately, Hinata realizes he’s gawking. He snaps to attention.

“N-nice to meet you!” he shouts, bowing a full ninety-degrees. “My name is Hinata Shouyou, and I’m one of Kageyama’s friends from volleyball!”

It may be a trick of the light, but the portrait-man’s eyes twinkle with something like amusement. A warmth bubbles in Hinata’s chest.

“I’m ready to go!” Kageyama’s voice suddenly calls from the hallway. Hinata scrambles upright as Kageyama’s face pops into view. “Who are you talking to, dumbass?”

“I had to say hello!” he chirps, gesturing to the photos. “Who is this?”

“Ah, that’s Kazuyo-san.” 

It’s strange, hearing  _ -san _ fall from Kageyama’s lips so casually when the term implies so much distance. It’s a distance that’s too much, that doesn’t quite fit with the warmth and familiarity that practically radiates from the three figures in the picture. Hinata opens his mouth to ask further, but Kageyama cuts in, saying, “Come on, let’s hurry back to the gym already. Daichi-san will be halfway done with practice by the time we’re there.”

Hinata really doesn’t think that’s the case, considering it’s their skirmish in a couple days and Daichi will have them working until eight if they’re lucky, but Kageyama is dashing out the door before he can even get a word out. 

Hinata has no choice but to follow, of course, but the question doesn’t quite leave his mind. Even as his lungs burn, as he pants for air, he can’t get the image of Kazuyo-san out of his mind, of the burnt incense sitting in the porcelain jar. Of the barren space, of the silent house.

And a lump forms in Hinata’s throat, because he really doesn’t know that much about Kageyama after all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who left comments; although I didn't respond to every single one, I just want to say that I appreciated every single one (and every single kudo!), especially on such a short chapter! Those comments motivated me to write this second and final chapter as a little add-on, so I hope you enjoy! 
> 
> There was a draft before this where Kageyama had a soliloquy about his family before I was like... nah that doesn't suit his character or Hinata's. So I wrote this instead (and made it real cheesy at the end because Haikyuu always brings out my cheesy side oop). Again, hope you enjoy, and thank you for your support so far!

The trouble is, he feels like if Kageyama wanted to talk about it, he would’ve. Throughout practice, Hinata’s brainstorming ways to casually get Kageyama to open up without it being out-of-the-blue—except, there’s no way to make it  _ not _ out-of-the-blue because it’s something Kageyama would never mention by himself. In the end, he has exactly zero ideas and several missed tosses, which is highly uncharacteristic of him and has his ears burning with shame as Daichi gently gives him a few pointers.

As practice is dismissed, everyone hangs back for the usual post-practice chatter: what the team needs to work on, how much homework they have to do that night, that night’s dinner plans, etc. Kageyama doesn’t join in on these conversations much, preferring to take long, slow gulps from his water bottle and hover around Sugawara and Daichi (who, noticing their kouhai, will usually offer a few observations that Kageyama accepts with intense concentration). 

Hinata sees this as an opportunity, and takes it. “Hey, hey, Kageyama, does your sister make you dinner?”

Kageyama is, naturally, surprised at the sudden question. It takes him a moment to answer. “She might today. She worked late last night.”

“Did she make you dinner  _ last _ night?”

“No, dumbass, like I said, she worked late.” He frowns. “I had leftovers from the other night.”

“Is she usually late?”

“Why are you asking?” Kageyama shoots back, visibly annoyed. Hinata puts his hands up in a surrendering gesture. 

“Hey, is it bad to be curious? I just found out you had a sister, like, two weeks ago! And the first time I went into your house was today! And we’ve known each other for  _ soooo _ long!”

“Not  _ that  _ long,” Kageyama grumbles, but his shoulders do relax and the annoyance drains from his glare. “And do you have to be so loud?”

And at the same moment, Tanaka’s ears perk up. “Kageyama, did I just hear Hinata say that you have a  _ sister?” _

Kageyama gets a second to shoot Hinata an  _ ‘I told you so’  _ look before the whole of Karasuno’s volleyball team is upon him, bombarding him with questions.

“No way! No way Kageyama has a sister,” Nishinoya crows, darting around to look at Kageyama from all angles. “Your vibe is totally only child!” 

Tanaka nods furiously. “What’s _her_ vibe?” he demands. “Cool? Mysterious? Diva?”

“A total dunce like you?” Even Tsukishima, for all his indifference, joins in. Even his jab has a hint of genuine curiosity.

“She’s twenty-four. She’s a hair and makeup makeup artist in downtown Tokyo.”

A chorus of  _ ‘cool!!!’  _ come from the two second-years, and from Hinata as well. Because Tokyo is, well,  _ Tokyo. _ Hinata’s not quite sure what a hair and makeup artist does specifically, but he imagines something with movie stars and idols. And Tokyo is where all the famous ones are.

“Has she come to a game before, Kageyama?” asks Asahi.

“Yeah, you  _ have _ to introduce us! She sounds awesome!” chimes in Nishinoya.

“Yeah,  _ when _ we make it to Tokyo this year for nationals, you should invite her!” says Tanaka. “Too bad we haven’t seen her before, I bet my sister would get along pretty well with her!”

And at this point, Kageyama looks very much out of his comfort zone, biting his lip and inching ever so closer to the gym doors. “She’s usually busy.”

Daichi, seemingly picking up on Kageyama’s discomfort the same way Hinata has, calls out to them. “Alright, we’re shutting off the lights, so stop bothering Kageyama and start clearing out!”

His captain voice is hard to ignore. In the span of a minute, the whole team disperses from their circle around Kageyama, grab their stuff, and are saying goodbyes as they head their separate ways home. 

“Convenience store?” It’s become somewhat of a ritual between him and Kageyama, so it’s not out of place for him to suggest it—maybe a little weird that he didn’t suggest it in the presence of the whole team.

“I just told you, my sister’s home today, she probably has dinner ready.” 

“Oh.” Hinata wilts. But—but, he reasons to himself, it’s not like it’s an urgent matter. If he went this long without knowing anything about Kageyama’s home life, he can go on a bit longer. With a sigh, he starts walking down to the main road where he and Kageyama will part ways, and Hinata will go home with the nagging feeling at the back of his thoughts, unresolved. 

Kageyama stands still, staying silent for a long time. Silent enough that Hinata doesn’t realize that he’s walking alone until a couple steps later. When he looks behind him, he sees Kageyama’s frowning face fixed on his back. 

“You know,” the setter says, “you want to say something to me, just say it, dumbass. It usually doesn’t stop you.”

“What?”

“You’re being weird.” And Hinata is surprised to hear thinly-veiled frustration laced into Kageyama’s words. “You weren’t focusing during practice today—you never do that unless there’s a reason. And if there’s a reason you usually say something about it. Is it still about Aoba Johsai?”

“It’s not about that! I’m over them.” They had gotten over that loss together as a team, after all—when he thinks about the interhigh preliminaries now, all Hinata feels is resolve towards the future. 

“Then what is it?” Kageyama demands. “This whole thing—it’s weird. If you feel—”

“It’s about—I feel like I don’t know anything about you!” he blurts out.

Kageyama is dumbfounded. Whatever he was about to say freezes in his half-open mouth.

“I don’t know anything about you,” Hinata repeats, voice lower. “I don’t know your family, I don’t know what you do outside of school—I’ve never even seen your house before today!”

“ _ This _ is why you’ve been so weird?”

_ “Yes!  _ Isn’t this weird to you?”

“I don’t know much about  _ your _ family,” Kageyama points out.

“But I  _ talk  _ about them! Because they’re important to me!”

“Do you talk about  _ me?” _

“Yes! No! Well, sometimes!” He feels his ears heating up. “What does that have to do with  _ anything?” _

“Do you talk about Karasuno?”

“I mean—about volleyball, to my mom and my sister. Again, how is this relevant?”

Kageyama sighs, crossing his arms together. “I’m making a  _ point. _ When you care about something, you talk about it. Like when you get excited about barbecue, you talk my ear off about it, even at the restaurant—” Kageyama ignores Hinata sticking his tongue out at him and continues on, “—but I  _ think _ about it. Like milk. Like Karasuno. Like my family. Get it?” he asks, giving Hinata a pointed stare.

And Hinata is catching on. “But, like, your parents. Are they…” he trails off, looking for some non-verbal cue in Kageyama’s face, some sign of silent distress that hints at some distant past.

But Kageyama’s face gives away nothing. “My sister’s busy, but she tries her best to take care of me. I see her enough. Is there really more to say?”

Kageyama has always been a non-pessimist, hasn’t he? Hinata had labeled the guy as a realist more than anything, but maybe his tendency to be matter-of-fact had always leaned towards the side of assured optimism. Kageyama…doesn’t like to linger in one place for long. Even his title of ‘King’, he had quickly shed once he’d been embraced into the warm arms of Karasuno, despite repeated jabs from people like Oikawa and Tsukishima. Kageyama likes to move on.

Maybe even to a greater extent than himself, Hinata thinks. But one question does still nag at him.

“Don’t you get lonely?”

There’s no hesitation in Kageyama’s answer. “Maybe…before. But now I have a team. I know people like you, who see my weaknesses, but still make me want to be better.” His gaze seems to harden, become ten times more intense that Hinata shivers under the sheer weight of it. “So don’t you dare think something stupid like you don’t know me. Because I’d like to think I know you, idiot.”

He can’t help it. Hinata starts to crack up. Now it’s Kageyama with a blush rising on his face, looking positively bewildered. “What’s so funny?”

“This is just the first time I’ve seen you be deep,” Hinata says between chortles. “I can’t believe you actually have a philo—something, side!”

_ “Philosophical.  _ And I don’t. It just pissed me off to see you slacking off in practice today.”

“Wow Kageyama, I can’t believe you really care.”

“About volleyball,” he retorts. But his hard tone can’t change the truth of the pink of his cheeks and his refusal to meet Hinata’s eyes, which has Hinata bursting into a second round of laughter.

“Just admit the truth, you jerk. I guess that’s what I know about you—that you’re a jerk.” Hinata elbows Kageyama lightly before taking off down the path at a sprint, calling behind him, “Last one down to the bike rack has to buy lunch next time!”

“You’re such an  _ idiot—”  _ he hears Kageyama’s voice call before it’s swept away by the blood rushing in his ears, his heart thumping in his chest with nothing less than elation.

And Hinata doesn’t need to check if Kageyama’s running after him. He knows.

**Author's Note:**

> Should I make a second chapter where Kageyama actually talks about his feelings? Pls comment below and I will have that in a jiffy because my brain is on FIRE Furudate you maniac you've done it you've made my writing brain functional
> 
> Anyway, even if you don't want a second installment I hope you enjoyed, thanks for stopping by!


End file.
